The House approved six veterans’ bills this week with bipartisan support, including measures led by U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Bill Shuster (R-PA).
Miller, the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said the bipartisan bills would help improve health care, benefits and services for the nation’s veterans.
Miller’s Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act, would clarify the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) responsibility to provide emergency care to veterans, expand windows to receive Post 9/11 G.I. Bill educational benefits, and improve disability compensation and other veterans programs.
“I’m especially proud of the provision in H.R. 6416 that brings transparency and accountability to VA’s often-abused administrative leave system,” Miller said. “I applaud my colleagues for passing this meaningful legislation to improve care for our nation’s veterans and honor those who have fallen.”
A measure introduced by Shuster, the Dignified Internment of Our Veterans Act, was included in H.R. 6416. Shuster’s provision would address the issue of unclaimed veteran remains held by the VA by probing the root causes.
“We should never forget our heroes that protect this nation, and it is tragic that the remains of thousands of our veterans are sitting on shelves collecting dust,” Shuster said. “My measure will take the steps needed to begin addressing this issue by finding the full scope of the problem and laying the groundwork to develop a plan to ensure our veterans get the burials they all deserve.”
Meanwhile, the House approved three bills backed by Issa on Tuesday: H.R. 5015, the Combat-Injured Veterans Tax Fairness Act; H.R. 4352, the Faster Care for Veterans Act; and H.R. 5428, the Military Residency Choice Act.
“Each of these bills is common sense and long overdue,” Issa said. “Veterans in the Orange County and San Diego County area contact my office for help with the VA every single day. The bills we’ve passed (on Tuesday) will help improve the health care, benefits and services for veterans and their families.”
H.R. 5015 would restore improperly held funds from the severance packages of combat-injured veterans for tax purposes, H.R. 4352 would direct the VA to establish a pilot program for self-scheduling appointments, and H.R. 5428 would enable spouses of service members to use the same address for voting and tax purposes.
“I thank and applaud my colleagues who worked on these important measures and look forward to continuing to work on further solutions for our nation’s deserving vets,” Issa said.